


incoming call

by notjasper



Series: incoming call [1]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Dialogue Heavy, Gen, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I love him, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Mentioned Toby Smith | Tubbo, Platonically, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, bro idfk, kinda??, no beta we die like men, ongoing, read the fucking tags i’m begging, trigger - Freeform, wilbur is a good brother, yes it’s more tommy angst shut up i write what i want
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:07:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28186626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notjasper/pseuds/notjasper
Summary: in which Wilbur calls at the perfect time to save Tommy’s life.-HUGE TRIGGER WARNING:- suicidal thoughts- attempted suicideplease don’t read this work if you’re sensitive to these subjects <3
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s), Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit
Series: incoming call [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2102370
Comments: 10
Kudos: 458





	1. Chapter 1

**big ol tw**

****

****

**this work contains:**  
suicidal thoughts  
attempted suicide

stay safe, love yall sm /p

-

Tommy didn’t know when he left his bedroom. He didn’t know how far he’d walked, and he sure as hell didn’t know how he ended up on the bridge. He didn’t tell anybody he was leaving, where he was going, or that they shouldn’t expect him back any time soon. _They’ll hear about it soon enough,_ he thought bitterly. 

He heard the sound of rushing waters about thirty meters below his feet. The chilling night wind cut straight through his thin hoodie and his short blonde hair whipped around his face like it was trying to break free from his head. 

He could relate.

As much as he’d like it if he could just disappear without a trace and tell no one, it felt cruel not to at least say something to his family. He loved them, he really did, and they were the main reason Tommy had kept going for so long. But tonight, he snapped, once and for all. The straw that broke the camel’s back.

He pulled out his cracked and weathered phone from his hoodie’s pocket and typed out two simple words to their family’s group chat: _im sorry._ After a solid minute of deliberation and staring blankly at the screen, he hit the ‘send’ icon and his message appeared on the right side of his screen. _Now they’ll know,_ he thought. _Hopefully they’ll know where to look for me._

Not even ten seconds after Tommy’s message was delivered, his phone began vibrating in his hand. 

_Incoming call from Wilby  
Accept call?_

Tommy sucked in his breath, cold air hurting his lungs. Hands shaking, he slid his thumb across the screen and accepted the call.

“Tommy, what the hell are you doing?” Wilbur asked as soon as his call went through.

Tommy didn’t know how to respond, so he didn’t. He just stood by the edge of the bridge, standing haphazardly on one of the rusty metal barriers that was meant to keep people from doing what he was about to do.

“I need you to talk to me, Tommy, so I know how to help,” Wilbur said. “Tell me what you’re doing, where you are, and why you’re there, please.” 

Tommy finally broke his silence. “I.. I’m not sure where I am.”

“Can you describe it to me?”

“Well, uh..” Tommy cleared his throat. “There’s a lot of trees, I see the moon, and, um, a big bridge.”

“So you’re outside?” 

“..Yep.”

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m gonna be honest with you, Wilbur, I feel like shit.”

“And so what were you about to do after you texted everyone?”

Tommy hesitated before answering his brother. Saying what he was really about to do would probably be for the best, but it was also the last thing he wanted to do. _Fucking idiot,_ he thought. _Shouldn’t’ve texted anyone and just jumped._

“You still there, Toms?” Wilbur asked tentatively. 

Tommy snapped back to reality. “Yeah, I’m here.”

“You haven’t answered my question, Tommy. What were you gonna do?”

“I think you know what I would be doing standing on the edge of a fucking bridge in the middle of the night, Will.”

“Oh, _Tommy..”_ Wilbur’s voice broke. “I need you to listen to me, okay? I’ll come pick you up soon.”

“Got it.”

“Okay, are you still on the edge of the bridge?”

“Yeah.”

“First, deep breaths. Ten of ‘em.”

Tommy complied and took in ten lungfuls of air. “Done.”

“Next, step away from the edge. Slowly. Don’t rush yourself.”

The blonde boy hesitated but ultimately did as he was told. “Now what?”

“Is there any place nearby where you can sit down?”

Tommy looked around. It appeared that he was on a pedestrian bridge because there were metal-and-wooden benches fastened to the sidewalks that flanked the road cutting through the middle of the bridge. “Yeah, I see a bench.”

“Good. Go sit on it.”

“Done.”

“Now, open up our texts on your phone and hit the little ‘share your location’ button.”

“You mean the group chat or direct messages?”

“Direct ones.” Wilbur waited until Tommy’s text showed up on his phone. When it arrived, he continued: “Good. Now, sit tight, I’ll come get you. And Tommy?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t know exactly what’s going on in your head right now, and I don’t think I ever will, but I will _always_ be here if you need to talk. Please, please never let it go this far again.”

“I’ll try, big man.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the story continues

“I’ll try, big man.”

The call went silent for a while until Wilbur spoke up. “I’m gonna stay on the line, okay? Keep me updated on what’s going on, how you’re feeling, stuff like that.” Tommy heard the faint sound of a car engine starting up coming from Wilbur’s end. “I’m getting in the car now, I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“Okay,” Tommy whispered. He was still very shaken up and the uncertainty of the darkness enveloping him wasn’t doing anything to help calm his nerves.

“Tommy, are you there?” Wilbur asked.

“Yeah.”

“Alright. How do you feel right now, physically?”

“Tired. And cold. And also my legs hurt but I’m not sure why.”

“Do you remember anything before getting to the bridge?”

“Not really, no. One minute I’m falling asleep at home and the next I’m standing over a big fuckin’ river.”

“What’s the temperature like?”

“Freezing.” It’s true; once most of the adrenaline wore off, Tommy’s teeth began chattering and goosebumps sprouted on his legs and arms.

“What are you wearing?”

Tommy looked down at his chest and legs. “Stupidly thin hoodie and shorts.”

“Shoes?”

“No, just socks.”

“You walked _seven miles_ without shoes on?” Wilbur sounded like he was trying to mask the slight annoyance in his voice, but Tommy could still hear it.

“..I guess.”

“Damn. I guess that’s why your legs hurt, then.”

“Probably,” Tommy laughed dully through gritted teeth.

Neither of them talked for a while after that, just sitting in the silence. The faint sound of Wilbur’s car whirring almost lulled Tommy to sleep before a bright light shining to his left snapped him back to attention.

“I’m here.”

“Yeah, well, I can see that, dickhead.”

Wilbur brought the car to a halt after he pulled up in front of Tommy’s bench and got out of the car. Wilbur was still wearing the clothes he’d gone to sleep in, Tommy noticed. _He didn't even change before coming to get me?_

“Shit, man, I probably woke you up or something, didn’t I?” Tommy asked meekly. 

“Tommy look at me right fucking now,” Wilbur said forcefully. Tommy noticed very faint lines of tears on his brother’s face reflecting in the bright headlights. “If you ever feel anywhere even close to what almost happened a few minutes ago, you call me right then and there. I don’t give a shit what time it is, where I am, or what I’m doing. _Call me._ Because you are a hell of a lot more important to me than a few hours of missed sleep.”

“A-Are you sure?” Tommy stuttered. _Goddamnit._ He always stuttered when he was nervous or emotional, and Wilbur knew it.

“I’m sure. Now c’mon, Toms, get in the car.

Tommy obliged, hauling his lanky frame out of the bench and up to his feet. He didn’t even bother circling around the car to get into the passenger seat and instead flopped across the back row, which is much easier said than done for somebody of Tommy’s height. Eventually, he got into a position slightly more comfortable than the bench and closed his weary eyes. 

-

Sunlight peeked through the window of Wilbur’s car as it shuddered to a halt in front of the family home. Tommy was still half-asleep, so he was barely aware of the car door in front of his head opening and four distinct voices whispering over him. Eventually, he felt a pair of strong arms wrap around his upper back and in the crook of his knees, then hoist him up out of the car and directly into the chilly morning air.

“Whas goin’ on?” he slurred sleepily, not wanting to open his eyes quite yet. 

“Don’t worry, Toms,” assured Wilbur as he carried his youngest brother inside the house. 

“You’re home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know it says this is completed, but i think i’ll be continuing to write more in this storyline. i really like it and i’m glad yall like it too <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this update do be hella short doe 😳

“You’re home.”

Home. The word offered some much-needed comfort to Tommy’s exhausted mind. The warmth and kindness of Wilbur’s words spread through his aching body like honey, making him drowsier and drowsier, his head leaning on Wilbur’s chest. The gentle rocking as he was carried upstairs and placed in his bed made him so tired that he promptly fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

-

Waking up in the afternoon was hell. His legs were so sore that he couldn’t walk properly without grimacing, his stomach was rumbling like a jet engine, and everyone in the house seemed to be either avoiding him or paying him entirely too much attention. As he stumbled down the stairs and into the kitchen, he heard a few hushed whispers. Slowing down to listen, he heard Phil on the phone with somebody. He seemed to be rather exasperated with whoever he was talking to, because almost every sentence his father said began with a deep sigh. Tommy caught a few phrases like “he’s just a kid”, “think I’d know”, and “obviously not working”.

This didn’t bother him too much, however. His brain was still a bit foggy and all he could really focus on was how goddamn hungry he was. He finally stepped into the kitchen and managed a weak smile. “Hey.”

Phil whipped around, surprised by the sudden noise. Hey, Phil mouthed. “I’m gonna have to call you back, sorry,” the older blonde spoke into his cell phone and hung up. 

“Who was that?” Tommy asked, yawning.

“No one important. How did you sleep?” Phil replied hurriedly. 

“Fine, I guess. Legs are sore,” Tommy said.

“Tubbo came by earlier, by the way, but I think you were asleep. Left this and told me to give it to you whenever you wake up,” Phil said, pointing at a small folded-up piece of paper resting on the kitchen counter. Tommy eagerly grabbed the card and began reading:

Dear Tommy,

I hope you're ok when you read this. I asked Philza minecraft if I could see you but he said no so I wrote you this leter instead. Hopefully there arent many mistakes because it is very early and also I can’t read that well. I’m really sorry for not coming earlyer. I got here right when Wilbur was pulling up and then I had to go back home once you fell asleep so I didnt get to say hi :(

Your Freind,  
Tubbo

Tommy wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry, so he did both. The fatigue was making all his emotions ten times stronger and he didn’t like it. He was used to masking whatever he felt in front of others, and, in hindsight, that was probably what broke him. As the tears kept flowing, Phil wrapped his arms around the younger boy and simply held him while he sobbed. Tears rolled down his pale, freckled face and landed on the white loose-leaf paper he still clutched in his shaking hands. The ink smeared and warped as the salty tears made contact.

Eventually, Tommy calmed down, still in Phil’s arms. “Phil, I’m s-sorry,” he croaked, sniffling. “I’m just a selfish, ignorant bastard who cries over a fucking p-piece of paper.”

“It’s okay,” Phil replied soothingly. “You’re not selfish. It’s normal. You’ll be okay, Tommy. We’ll all be okay.”


	4. Chapter 4

“You’ll be okay, Tommy. We’ll all be okay.”

Tommy wanted so desperately to believe Phil’s words, but something told him that he couldn’t. No matter how much they tried to push this incident behind them, some remnant of it would always remain. He knew there would be an ugly stain on the family’s history. People would bring it up for years to come, no matter how much Tommy tried to avoid it. Hushed whispers behind cupped hands at family gatherings would haunt him to the grave, however early that grave may come. Some would be discreet about their gossip, and other, less bashful souls would just ask him outright: _“Is it true you tried to jump off a bridge when you were fifteen?”_

And he would just awkwardly laugh, brush off the incident like it never happened. But it did happen. Of course it happened. It was bound to happen eventually. What Tommy had done -- _almost_ done -- last night was no huge shock, at least to him. It had been slowly building and building for years, gradually drowning him in his own brain. Nobody noticed, however, because he had just gotten used to it. Hiding what he felt was second nature to Tommy at this point. He’d grown up on the internet, where showing emotion was considered a weakness people could use against you, especially if you were a guy. And Tommy was the perfect target - sad, insecure, borderline unstable guy who seemed to constantly be on the edge of a breakdown that never happened. 

Until it _did_ happen. 

Now, if any of this ever got out to his classmates in school, his world would become a whole different type of hell that he hadn’t grown accustomed to yet. People treating him delicately like he was made of glass, liable to break at any moment. He’d have to get used to overly concerned peers watching their every word around him, so as not to upset _poor, broken little Tommy._ Pity would cloud their senses like fog as they stared but tried not to make it obvious, which only made it all the more obvious. Curious eyes would follow him in the hallway until he wanted to scream. 

But he couldn’t scream. If he screamed, he’d only add to the narrative of unstable, crazy, impulsive freak. That narrative was already pushed so much by misunderstanding people that vilify and ostracize anybody that doesn’t fit perfectly into the perfect standard of what people think teenagers are supposed to be. All Tommy wanted was to fit into that standard, but he never could. Too tall. Too skinny. Too loud. Too emotional. Too lighthearted. No matter what Tommy was, it was never enough.

All of a sudden, the world came back to Tommy. He still had a death grip on Tubbo’s note with Phil’s arms around him. But now instead of just Phil, somebody else was with them in the kitchen. 

“Hey, Tommy,” Techno said, voice low and gravelly. 

Tommy exhaled slowly, trying to calm himself down. “Hey.”

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Techno asked. This surprised Tommy. He and Techno hadn’t had a real conversation in weeks.

“Uh, sure.” Tommy reluctantly tore himself from Phil’s arms to follow Techno, who was heading outside towards the backyard. Phil just smiled after them.

“Those’re my boys.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> proud dadza :’)


End file.
